Conventional bathtub liners may be used to provide sanitary protection for users of the tubs or to protect the tub surface from stains, debris, or hard to clean materials. Certain applications such as oatmeal baths or pet bathing may lend themselves to utilizing disposable or washable liners in the bathtub. These liners may be formed of various thin, flexible, sheeting materials, including paper products, to allow for disposability. Yet, paper or fabric liners fail to provide a water-tight reusable receptacle. Some liners are formed from simple plastic rectangular sheets, but result in excessive and unsightly leftover material gathering in the corners of the tubs when installed. Thus, the excess corner material provides crevices that can collect dirt and oil.
Many users typically prefer utilizing a tub liner with built-in cushioning that isolates the user from the hard surface of the underlying bathtub. However, liners formed from foam or other cushioning material may suffer from excessive weight, cost, and difficulty in cleaning. Other known bathtub liners are formed of irregular patterns cut from rectangular sheets to allow for ease in cleaning and folding the material. Such foldable pattern liners include a main portion and laterally extending side portions. However, such foldable pattern liners or other piecemeal liners fail to provide a self-contained water receptacle having an interior that is totally isolated from the tub interior. Some known liners are formed pre-conformed yet lack an upper ledge with selective semi-rigidity to easily support the liner against the bathtub ledge. Such liners thus require multiple clips, magnets or suction cups to secure the liner to the top ledge of the bathtub for support. Other known liners may be self-contained one-piece members, but use or require perforation of a drain opening at the end of use to remove fluid.
There remains a need for a one-piece, generally watertight, re-usable, pre-conformed bathtub liner that conforms to the contours of a bathtub. There remains a need for a liner system including a selectively semi-rigid ledge to add support. There is also a need for a bathtub liner including integral back and seat cushions, and an integral built-in drain system that overcomes the above drawbacks.